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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Brinjal Brrrr....

Brinjal are treated as perennials in our garden.

They take a long time to grow and impatient that I am to wait until late summer to harvest them if grown from seeds. So if I give the chance for the brinjal to survive over winter, I would have fresh brinjal again before summer comes. Last year spring I bought a seedling of bonica eggplant and left them growing over winter in the garden. What surprised us that early spring I found some fruits on it while I was cleaning up that area. Although it should be dark purple, the skin colour somewhat turn stripey and whitish. But the taste was good and sweet.

Who will expect that there are fruit on this bonica eggplant when it look dreadful like this.

I found snail hiding place on this brinjal plant.

Curiously, there were many snail but my greens were left untouched.

At the bottom of this plants new shoot appears.

Holes courtesy of those snails.

This is our Lebanese brinjal plant that has experience 2 winter seasons. In winter, this brinjal plant snuggle together with broccoli plants and dills. It does look a bit sad but it has started producing flowers.

Oh my! I am already salivating just by looking at those eggplants. Mama has many eggplant recipes - paceri, balado, cili belacan, or just blanch and dip in sambal belacan. We also slice them, slap some fish paste on them, steam, then eat as one of yong taufu stuff. Yummmm...... purrr...meow!

We call eggplants aubergines here. We have to grow them in the greenhouse as the weather is too cold for them outside. It took me three attempts, over three years, to get a plant to produce fruit, they can be quite hard to grow here.

You are so lucky to have kept them alive! I'm sure they will pick up quickly now with the warmer weather coming!I told my mum about you keeping yours in the ground over winter and she kept hers. I'll have to check how they are going!!

I tried to get mine through the winter, of 3 one survived. Unfortunately it wasn't the Lebanese one which is my personal favourite. I'm growing Bonica for the first time this year so perhaps that will make it through. We are quite a bit colder than you are though....Glad the fruit are tasting good.

Jody~I found snail really like to munch on eggplant leaves. A few of our eggplant seedling has been attacked.

Skeeter~We don't have any fruit growing at the moment. So we have to consider eggplant as fruit I guess;-).

Rosey~ I like to fry them with chilli,or make curry or fried coated with tempura flour. This is stir-fry spicy eggplant that I really like http://mycookinggallery.blogspot.com/2011/03/pfchangs-stir-fried-spicy-eggplant.html.

Cat-from-Sydney~All that eggplant dishes sounds sangat sedap.

Jo~I found that the long and early variety ones much tolerant with cold.

We have started gardening for about 4 years now since I had my first pregnancy scan with Rayyan and he was diagnose with cardiac defect.We want our children to know where veggies come from and eat vegetable which is chemical free. Furthermore taste the true flavour of heirloom vegetables and fruits. Our gardening adventure started in Adelaide (blog archive 2010-2012) with Mediterranean / Warm Temperate Climate. Now we grow our own food in Tropical Climate in a green zone 20 less kilometre away from the Malaysia capital city Kuala Lumpur.